Kelly, Scott Urge Colleagues to Join Bipartisan Effort to Modernize Clean Water Infrastructure

"Clean water infrastructure is a national priority, and it should be funded according to the needs of the country as it exists today, not as it existed in 1987."

Read in POLITICO E&E: Scott, Kelly push for EPA water funding change

Today, U.S Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Rick Scott (R-FL) sent a letter to impacted Senate colleagues inviting them to join their bipartisan Clean Water Allotment Modernization Act, which they introduced earlier this month. They also urged their colleagues to include this legislation in the Water Resources and Development Act (WRDA) of 2026.

The bill replaces the outdated, fixed percentage formula for distributing Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) grants with a transparent, needs-based formula that reflects current clean water infrastructure demands, state populations, and economic burden. The outdated distribution allotment hasn't been adjusted since 1987 and doesn't provide for each state's need and population growth.

"Every year, the EPA distributes federal clean water infrastructure dollars using the same fixed percentages assigned to each state when the program was created. In other words, the nation's principal clean water infrastructure program is running on an outdated, unexplainable formula that no longer reflects the needs of the communities it is meant to serve," wrote the senators.

"The moment to act is now. As the Senate takes up WRDA 2026, we urge you to support incorporating the Clean Water Allotment Modernization Act into the legislation so that the program Congress reauthorizes is one that finally treats every state fairly," they emphasized.

Background:

Kelly first introduced the Clean Water Allotment Modernization Act in 2021 when a 2016 Environmental Protection Agency report found that an updated formula would triple the amount of clean water funding available to Arizona. As a senior member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, Kelly has championed fixing the formula for years. In 2024, following a request from Kelly, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report recommending Congress update the CWSRF formula. Kelly and Scott's bill would implement the recommendations of the GAO study to ensure fast-growing, high-need states like Arizona receive their fair share.

The Clean Water State Revolving Fund, established in 1987, provides low-interest loans for water quality infrastructure projects. As loans are repaid, funds are recycled to support new projects but the formula used to allot funds to each state has never been updated. Based on GAO analysis, the modernized formula would result in 31 states receiving the same or higher allotment.

The Clean Water Allotment Modernization Act of 2026 would:

• Replace the Clean Water State Revolving Fund's outdated 1987 allotment formula with a needs-based formula recommended by a GAO expert panel, distributing funds based on documented infrastructure needs (60%), state population from the most recent census (20%), and share of population at or below 200% of the federal poverty level (20%).
• Ensure fast-growing states like Arizona receive funding that reflects their actual needs - not data from nearly four decades ago.
• Protect states during the transition by capping annual allotment increases at 200% and decreases at 25% during the first four years.
• Maintain dedicated funding for Indian tribes and U.S. territories and leave Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocations untouched.

Read the full text of the letter here.